Coisiche writes: Scotland Yard didn't need to request a phone manufacturer make some sort of encryption backdoor, although the recently passed Investigatory Powers Bill apparently has that provision in the small print. They just grabbed it while it was in use.

That was the reason I cancelled my Prime Video subscription. OK, the selection is crap as well but I'd probably have lived with that if it wasn't all mixed in with the non-free stuff. The killer was that some seasons are free and others are non-free within the same show.

I mean really, what is the deal? Do they not provide a service that everyone enjoys and uses and a much lower rate with better service than the local taxi service that doesn't even have an app?

No, they don't. They provide exactly the same service as the minicabs* which have been operating here for as long as I've been alive - most have also had apps for many, many years. From my experience the pricing is pretty much on a par as well (ignoring the fact that Uber keeps running specials/free rides for new customers).

*minicabs are similar to taxis but they cannot be hailed on the street and they can't use taxi ranks. Which is probably why they have generally been early adopters of apps. Just because Anytown, USA has a shite taxi system does not mean the rest of the world is the same.

I prefer the book myself (but then I'm a Philip K Dick fan). I think that the film was definitely of its time though, and a lot of what made it original and unique at the time are just standard fare now. You have to remember it was definitely in on the ground floor of the whole dark and gritty dsytopian cyberpunk thing.

I would also guess that if you haven't watched it until recently then its probably not your kind of film anyway.

I've just cancelled Amazon Video and the main reason was because of the mixing of free and prime stuff. Too many times I've been searching for something good, stumbled across something only to discover its not actually part of prime. Also the fact that even when you find something in Prime, chances are not all seasons will be free.

Netflix has its own flaws, but its a million miles above the annoyances of prime video.

schwit1 writes: A new analysis of the infrared data from 153 galaxies using the Spitzer Space Telescope suggests that dark matter might not be necessary to explain the rotation of galaxies.

First, this concise and nicely written explanation from the link of why dark matter has been proposed:

Newton’s laws of motion predict that planets that revolve closer to a star move faster than those that are farther away. In principle this should also hold true for stars circling the cores of galaxies, but for nearly a century, astronomers have seen that stars near the outskirts of galaxies orbit at nearly the same velocities as ones near galactic centers.

To explain why these outlying stars travel as quickly as they do without flying out into the void beyond, researchers came up with the idea of dark matter, a substance whose gravitational pull is thought to keep whirling stars in check. Scientists have largely ruled out all known particles as possible explanations for dark matter, and the consensus is that dark matter must be a kind of invisible, intangible material that is only detectable via its gravitational influence.

However, despite decades of trying, researchers have failed to capture a single mote of dark matter, even though it is supposed to make up roughly five-sixths of all matter in the universe. This raises the possibility that dark matter might not be real.